"Ancient Runes" a Severus Snape ff - Snape x OC

Chapter 2

The owl persistently pecked at the closed window. It was raining heavily and Lysanna wasn't quite in the mood for receiving mail, but it's not like she would really have any choice. It was obvious that the owl wouldn't stop until she would finally give in and open the window.

A heavy gust of wind blew the rain right into the small apartment and so Lysanna quickly detached the completely soaked letter from the owl's leg. Even if the address wasn't readable, due to the ink that had completely gone off from the rain, it was needless to say that the letter was meant to be for Lysanna.

After she had closed the window, to not let any more of this disgusting weather inside, Lysanna thought to herself that she would read that letter later and threw it on top of a whole bunch of unopened letters that lay on her desk. The one thing she needed now was a bit of quietness to sort out her thoughts. Her gaze stopped on that still untouched bottle of whisky that was standing on top of that little cabinet, looking so tempting.

'Why not?' Lysanna thought to herself. A glass of whisky might be exactly the right thing according to everything that had happened recently. Lysanna actually loved her job at the Ministry of Magic, but since her fight with Theodor, she didn't want to have anything to do with it anymore. He was turning her work life into hell and she knew that this would last to the point where she would make up with him. It was a curse and a blessing at the same time that Lysanna started this relationship with her boss. Although it definitely must be said, that Theodor Renington was so much worse in separating work and private, than Lysanna. According to her, they could have just continued working together after the break up, but Theodor rather did everything to make her working days as unpleasant as possible.

They hadn't spoken a single word during the last week, at least not about private matters. Theodor still desperately tried to raise her attention, by assigning the most annoying tasks to her. It was only today, when he wordlessly dropped a huge bunch of complaints on her desk, which he definitely must have collected throughout the last couple of days. Idiot. If there was one thing Lysanna had always hated about her job, then it clearly was to handle the various, mostly unfounded complaints. Needless to say that Theodor knew that only too well and needless to say, that this was exactly the reason why all those complaints landed on her desk.

The glass in her hand, Lysanna dropped herself onto the small but comfortable couch. Her apartment in the middle of Edinburgh wasn't particularly big, but crammed with all kinds of books and bits and pieces she had gathered. The thought of exactly this being the reason for her argument with Theodor made her laugh. He wanted her to move in with him, into his chic London townhouse, but Lysanna had rejected his offer. She needed a bit of room for herself and simply wasn't ready to leave her Scottish home. Of course this wasn't the only reason why she broke up with him, it was just the last drop that caused the cauldron to explode.

She downed her glass at once and sat back, relaxed. She wouldn't give up that easily. Not because of Theodor. Surely not. She did not make it that far in the Ministry, to let him put her down. Of course the easiest way would have been to just go on a date with Theodor, flirt with him a bit and leave this whole argument behind, but that was anything, but Lysanna's way.

She had drunk a second glass of whisky before she boredly turned to the mail. Bills, reminders, yes, maybe she hadn't paid the rent on time again. Being quite annoyed, she threw the rest of the letters aside, so the letter from Hogwarts landed unnoticed on the cold floor.

Tired and annoyed from todays' events Lysanna went to bed.

-

Today was Saturday, Lysanna's free day and she could really use that day off. Alternatively, a couple of house elves would have done the trick to tidy up the apartment, but unfortunately they were hard to come by in this part of Edinburgh. So Lysanna had no other choice but to take care of the housework all by herself.

But, first things first, a cup of tea.

On the way to the kitchen, her eyes inevitably were caught by the mail scattered on the floor of the living room. She was secretly annoyed by her own behaviour, but left the letters where they lay for now. First a cup of tea.

A few moments later, Lysanna came back to the living room, the desired cup of tea in hands. Now she had no choice but to finally gather the letters from the floor. Her eyes immediately caught the letter with the Hogwarts seal. Why did the school write her a letter? Her Aunt Minerva did not usually send letters with the school's official seal, so the letter immediately piqued Lysanna's interest. She opened it almost impatiently and read.

Dear Miss McGonagall,

On the recommendation of your beloved aunt, Minerva McGonagall, it is my privilege to address you with this letter.

For the upcoming school year, the term starts as usual on September 1st, we are currently searching for a teacher for the elective subject "Ancient Runes" due to an illness-related absence.

If you are interested in becoming a teacher at our school and the Ministry can spare you for the following year, simply reply to this letter.

Albus Dumbledore

Lysanna had to read the letter twice to realise that she was actually being offered a position as a professor at Hogwarts. However her Aunt Minerva had arranged it, it was the right moment. If it hadn't been for the argument with Theodor, she would probably have torn up the letter immediately, but right now the idea of a career change didn't seem so far-fetched to her.